Today's pickup truck is a very versatile vehicle that is used for work as well as play. Pickup trucks are particularly suited to the task of towing. Pickups are suitable for towing other vehicles, boats, campers, horse trailers, equipment and the like. In each of these applications a hitch is required to attach the load to the truck.
Several styles of hitches exist. Bumper mounted ball hitches are useful for lighter loads but for heavier loads the hitch is located in the bed of the pickup just above the rear axle. For instance, a popular style of bed mounted hitch system is known as a “gooseneck” hitch. A gooseneck hitch employs a ball and socket arrangement where the hitch ball is mounted in the bed of the pickup and the socket is part of the trailer. This arrangement is very common on horse trailers among others.
The substantial weight of a loaded gooseneck trailer requires proper loading and mounting of the hitch assembly. Where the typical pick-up truck is employed as the tow vehicle, the hitch ball is secured in the bed of the pick-up truck above and slightly in front of the rear axle. It is important that the mounting not be located too far forward of the axle to avoid unnecessary bending moments about the axle. Moreover, it is important not to mount the hitch ball rearwardly of the axle otherwise the tow vehicle will tend to rear off its front wheels resulting in loss of steering control.
Where a long-bed truck is employed as the tow vehicle, relatively few difficulties are encountered in the proper mounting of a hitch ball for a gooseneck trailer. Recently, though, the popularity of the short-bed pick-up truck has grown. Here, there is a decreased distance between the rear axle of the pick-up truck and the cab. In such cases, as discussed more thoroughly below, the proper mounting of the hitch ball results in an inadequate clearance distance between the forward portion of the trailer and the truck cab. In order to achieve adequate clearance, the tow hitch may be moved rearwardly in the bed, behind the rear axle. However, as noted above, this creates an undesirable and potentially dangerous towing configuration. Accordingly, there is a need for an alternative hitch system for interconnecting a trailer to a tow vehicle equipped with a gooseneck style hitch ball that provides enhanced trailer to cab clearance while maintaining the proper loading of the tow vehicle relative to its rear axle.